We request funds for a 15T Bruker Daltonics solariX FT-ICR mass spectrometer with a dual ESI/MALDI source. The instrument will provide NIH-funded users with critical needs including high mass resolving power, high mass accuracy and high-throughput data acquisition; enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range; high- spatial resolution high-performance molecular imaging; and an expanded mass range in comparison to our current FTMS system and other commercially available high-performance mass analyzers. The purchased instrument will replace our current 9.4T Apex-Qe FT-ICR MS. Major drivers for the choice the 15T solariX system is the significantly increased dynamic range from the higher magnetic field and the overall increase in performance from the instrumental components including the ability to perform high-speed CASI experiments, a technique that can enhance the dynamic range of selected mass windows over 100-fold. The instrument will support a diverse group of major and minor users and the extensively NIH-funded Vanderbilt University research community as a whole. Highlighted NIH funded Major Users are as follows. Dr. Kevin Schey: The Role of Aquaporin-0 in Lens Development and Aging. Dr. Terence S. Dermody: Understanding Cellular Mechanisms Mediating Reovirus-Induced Apoptosis in the Central Nervous System. Dr. Clifton E. Barry, III: Unique Lesion Types and Chemotherapy Response of M. tuberculosis. Dr. Billy G. Hudson: Modification of Proteins in the Basement Membrane and Glomerulus by Glucose in Diabetic Nephropathy. Dr. H. Scott Baldwin: Proteomic Characterization of Semilunar Valve Maturation towards Pediatric Tissue Engineered Valves. Dr. Volker Hans Haase: Understanding the Role of HIF-1 and HIF-2 in the Progression of Renal Injury. The 15T Bruker solariX FT-ICR instrument will be located in the Mass Spectrometry Research Center at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The instrument will be managed by a team of 6 professionals including a FT-ICR mass spectrometry specialist and a mass spectrometry engineer. Operational funds will be generated from user fees assessed to investigators for service using standard accounting and billing procedures that have been used by the MSRC services cores for years. Advisory committees are in place to ensure proper use and sustainability of the proposed instrument. The proposed instrument will bring critical and unparalleled new capabilities to the Vanderbilt community providing highly accurate, sensitive and detailed information for highly complex biological samples. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The requested 15T Bruker Daltonics solariX FT-ICR mass spectrometer delivers critical and unparalleled new capabilities in providing high mass accuracy, high sensitivity and much greater dynamic range so as to provide detailed information for highly complex biological samples for the Vanderbilt University community. This high performance instrument is a necessary tool to provide new information to help understand the molecular complexity of biological systems.